Past Events
Securing the Future of Critical Race Studies, 12/12, 12pm
Securing the Future of Critical Race Studies This two-pronged conversation will explore the role of mentorship and research agendas in Premodern Critical Race Studies, as a way to consider what the field can do to ensure its continued vitality. About the...
Johana Staza Godfrey – “‘Fraudulent Unearthing’: Working-class Antiquaries in Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend,” 12/12, 3pm
We invite you to join us next Friday, December 12 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm at the Newberry Library for the British Studies Seminar with Professor Johana Staza Godfrey, presenting a paper titled “'Fraudulent Unearthing': Working-class Antiquaries in Bleak House and Our...
Leah Whittington – “Writing in the Blanks,” 12/4, 5pm
Please join the Renaissance Workshop THURSDAY, December 4th, when Leah Whittington Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University will give a talk entitled “Writing in the Blanks," followed by a Q&A and discussion. THURSDAY, December 4th...
Jim Livesey – “Indigenous Political Economy? Ireland, Economic Institutions & the Atlantic Economy 1600-1799,” 11/21, 3pm
We invite you to join us next Friday, November 21 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm at the Newberry Library for the British Studies Seminar with Professor Jim Livesey, presenting a paper titled "Indigenous Political Economy? Ireland, Economic Institutions and the Atlantic Economy...
“History and Its Discontents: Twenty-Five Years of Provincializing Europe,” 11/13-14, 2025
History and Its Discontents: Twenty-Five Years of Provincializing Europe November 13-14, 2025 John Hope Franklin Room (SSRB 224), The University of Chicago Since its publication in 2000, Provincializing Europe was promptly recognized as one of the more significant...
“Varieties of Melodrama,” 11/6-8, 2025
Varieties of Melodrama November 6-8, 2025 Logan 201 & Cobb 307, The University of Chicago This Thursday through Saturday, join CMS & the Film Studies Center for Varieties of Melodrama, a conference celebrating the centenaries of filmmaking visionaries Guru...
Bríona Nic Dhiarmada and Jane Ohlmeyer – “From that Small Island” – screening and Q&A, 11/4, 7.30pm
On November 4, 2025, the Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago, in partnership with the Nicholson Center for British Studies and Chicago Irish Film Festival, hosted a screening of the documentary From that Small Island. The story of the Irish, produced by...
“Symbolist Worlds,” Nicholson Center at the Smart Museum, 10/30, 12:30pm
Please join the Nicholson Center for British Studies for a session exploring Symbolist artworks at the Smart Museum, led by Dr Stefano Evangelista (Oxford), and curators Matthew Winterbottom and An Van Camp (Ashmolean). Thursday, October 30 at 12.30-2pm in the...
Benjamin Morgan – “Ennui at the End of Time,” Nicholson Faculty Lecture, 5/13, 5pm
Annual Nicholson Faculty Lecture - Professor Benjamin Morgan Tuesday, May 13 at 5pm, Classics 110 “Ennui at the End of Time: Planetary Fiction, 1895-1930" With introduction by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Associate Professor of History and CHSS At the end of the...
Chicago British Studies Symposium
On January 24-25, 2025, the Nicholson Center for British Studies hosted our inaugural Chicago British Studies Symposium. The aim of the symposium was to build intellectual community across campus and stimulate conversations on new directions in the field . The two-day event featured flash talks from professors, PhD candidates, and recent Nicholson Graduate Fellows representing nine departments and five divisions and schools.
Distinguished Guest Speaker: Dr. Julia Alexander
In March 2025, the Nicholson Center for British Studies, in partnership with the Smart Museum, welcomed Kress Foundation President Dr. Julia Alexander to campus. On March 4th, Dr. Alexander gave a lecture titled “The Museum as Cenotaph or Time-Machine? Thoughts on Art, History, and Institutions in Our Nearsighted Moment” followed by a reception in the Robert Earl Paige bedecked lobby.